The present invention relates generally to improvements to barcode labeling and reading. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for encoding and reading supplemental information in the form of a supplemental barcode which is advantageously read in conjunction with a primary barcode.
Barcodes are widely used to provide fast and convenient identification of an item. Affixing a barcode to an item provides a machine-readable label which can contain either direct information about the item or serve as an index to a stored catalog or directory of items, which may contain as much information about each item as is desired. The use of barcodes is particularly prevalent in retailing. A specific brand or model of an item can be uniquely identified using a bar-coded identification number, with the identification number being quickly and easily read at the time of a transaction. Because the specific class of item can be identified, it is not necessary to place pricing information on the item. Instead, pricing information can be stored in a central computer, making it easy to change pricing for a particular brand or model without individually marking each item. Moreover, the identifying information contained in a barcode makes it easy to maintain records of inventory and to track and store sales information for an item.
It is often desirable to include supplemental information about particular items in a class of items, which are distinguished in some way from the class as a whole. In retailing, for example, it is often desirable, particularly in connection with perishable foods, to discount an individual item without discounting all other items of the same brand and type. For example, if a perishable item is approaching or has passed the end of its shelf life, it may be desired to discount the price of the item to encourage its immediate purchase. In barcode scanning systems of the prior art, this can be accomplished through manual intervention on the part of the operator. This requires that the operator recognize the item as one which has been marked down, typically through a human-readable label prominently affixed to the item. The operator must also know the markdown price and manually enter it, or must manually activate a markdown function on the scanner which will indicate to the central computer that the individual item has been marked down and instruct the computer to retrieve and apply the new markdown price. This is a labor-intensive operation, requiring that each item to be marked down be individually relabeled, and that the operator of the scanner intervene manually with each marked-down item. The operation is therefore costly and is subject to human error.
Alternatively, for each item of a particular type which is to be marked down, a new barcode label may be printed and affixed over the old barcode label. A single label for all product types, simply indicating that the item has been marked down, is insufficient, as the central computer will be instructed that the item has been marked down, but will not be informed of the identity of the item. The new barcode label should therefore contain information identifying the product type as well as an indication that the item has been marked down. This requires a different label for every product type, as well as the labor to affix a label to each item to be marked down. Moreover, in retailing such a barcode is nonstandard, as a standardized system of retail barcode labels exists, each identifying a specific item class, such as a particular brand and size of item. The use of a nonstandard barcode would give up the convenience of using the standard barcode, and would introduce increased complexity into the system, as the system would need to be adapted to accommodate the specialized barcodes used to contain both the primary and the supplemental information.
The present invention recognizes a need for a system in which a supplemental barcode label can be used to supplement a presently existing primary barcode label, with the presently existing label providing, for example, information about product identity, and the supplemental label providing supplemental information, for example, as an indication that the item has been marked down.
A scanning system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a scanner for reading a barcode label, preferably programmable to operate in a normal mode and in a supplemental label mode. In the normal mode, the scanner operates to read and operate on primary barcode information such as a Universal Product Code (UPC) label, as is commonly known in the art. In the supplemental label mode, the scanner first seeks a primary barcode label, such as a UPC label placed on a product. After a successful read of the primary label, the scanner seeks a supplemental label such as a special markdown label placed in the vicinity of the product identification label and preferably placed so as to partially obscure the primary label. If a supplemental label is detected, the transaction is conducted in accordance with the additional information contained in the supplemental label, for example pricing a product at a special markdown price rather than the regular price for the product. If the supplemental label is not immediately detected by the scanner, a delay is preferably inserted before the following read in order to give the scanner time to look for the supplemental label. The scanner may also advantageously be provided with an operator-initiated supplemental label function. With such a function, the operator presses a special supplemental label key upon visual detection of a supplemental label, instructing the scanner to wait until a primary label and a supplemental label are detected before sending data to the terminal.